Abuse and molestation coverage is the policy. Everything else is around it.

Abuse and molestation

Allegations against staff or volunteers, including defense costs.

Without it — The defining exposure of the sector, and excluded from general liability.

General liability

Injury to children on the premises and at the playground.

Without it — Playground and supervision claims are frequent and are what parents sue over.

Professional liability

Claims of inadequate supervision, wrongful release of a child, failure to follow a care plan.

Without it — Releasing a child to the wrong adult is a supervision claim, not a premises one.

Commercial auto

Any vehicle used to transport children, including staff cars on outings.

Without it — Transporting children is the single highest-severity thing a center does.

Student accident

No-fault medical coverage for minor injuries.

Without it — A small no-fault payment frequently stops a claim escalating.

Crime and social engineering

Employee dishonesty, and funds sent because an email or a call looked genuine.

Without it — The commonest large loss in a small office is internal or invited, and neither property nor cyber reliably answers a transfer somebody authorized.

Group health and benefits

Teachers and aides, where the ratio is the license.

Without it — Staffing ratios are a licensing condition, so turnover is not an inconvenience here, it is a closure risk. Benefits keep the ratio intact.

Why does abuse and molestation coverage dominate this class?

Because it is the claim that ends businesses, and because an allegation is expensive whether or not it is founded. Coverage is usually written with its own limit, and the important questions are whether defense costs sit inside or outside that limit, and whether the form covers allegations against volunteers and parent helpers as well as employees. Expect underwriters to ask hard questions about background checks, two-adult rules, sightlines, camera coverage and bathroom procedures — those answers determine whether you can be written at all.

How this coverage is structured

Do I need commercial auto if we rarely drive?

Yes, and hired and non-owned auto if staff ever use their own cars. Field trips, an emergency run and a school pickup all count, and a personal auto policy excludes carrying children for business. No exposure is more likely to produce a catastrophic claim from an otherwise low-severity business, so the limits should be set with that in mind rather than at the minimum.

Coverage for staff cars used on business

I run a daycare from my home. Does my homeowners policy cover it?

No, and this is the most common uninsured position in the sector. Homeowners policies exclude business pursuits, so a child injured in your home daycare is not covered, and in some cases the business use itself can jeopardize the whole policy. Home childcare needs a commercial policy — it exists and is affordable — alongside a disclosure to your home insurer that the business is being run there.

What does licensing have to do with insurance?

Almost everything, because the state ratios and standards are what an underwriter uses as a baseline. Being licensed and in good standing widens the market substantially; operating over ratio, with lapsed staff clearances or with an open licensing complaint narrows it fast. Insurers commonly ask for the current license, recent inspection reports and your staff-to-child ratios by age group, so have those to hand at quote.